Film Reviews by TB

American Sniper is a very mixed bag for me. I absolutely respect & commend the fact that there is a very strong focus on the effects of PTSD, alongside the contrasting scenes of the celebration & reverence that Kyle received from the American people for his heroic actions in war zones. It has to be said, whatever your views on the invasions of Iraq, that Kyle & his colleagues actions without doubt saved the lives of multiple troops who were on the ground.

The film follows, in a loose way, Kyle from his humble beginnings through to joining the US military & becoming a highly successful & deadly sniper. It spends a good deal of time focusing on the slow degeneration of his mental state, which becomes worse the more tours he is a part of.

Whilst the performances of Bradley Cooper & Sienna Miller are absolutely outstanding, they are really the main plus points of this film. American Sniper is absolutely a flag-waving, highly patriotic film, celebrating the military & it's operations. Whilst in no way is it like The Green Berets (an infamously terrible piece of propaganda partly funded by the US government in order to bolster support for the Vietnam War,) it also has the feeling of not wanting to interrogate too closely the minutiae of the war and it's consequences outside of the effects on US soldiers.

Fury is not an easy watch, in any way, shape or form. It is a film which, from the ground up, was written & shot to be as uncompromising as possible. In the WW2 setting we are thrown into, life is almost worthless. Friends are made then killed in battle in the blink of an eye. The stench of death from corpses which have been blown into bits then left to rot is overwhelming. And, as shown by our protagonist Norman, innocence is destroyed within seconds.

Whilst there is absolutely an enormous testosterone streak running through this film, it is also in no way glorifying the actions you see. Every single one of the characters has been so broken by the horrific bloodshed they have endured that you wonder what they will do once the war is over, how they will be able to cope in a world where they don't spend every single second worrying that they will be attacked.

The film follows Norman as he is transferred from being a typist to the lead machine gunner within the tank, replacing the previous gunner who was killed in action. The film immediately grabs you by the throat as Norman is ordered to clean the dead man out of the tank, including bits of his face which have been blown apart. As the film progresses, you see in such painful detail how unsuited Norman is to combat, but also remembering that in the final months of the war, manpower/soldiers were so limited that effectively you were conscripted if you could pick up a gun & point it in vaguely the right direction.

And whilst obviously Norman is the main focus, through his pain & breakdown you are able to see so clearly how the other men, who may have had a similar level of innocence, have been totally & completely dehumanised by the horror they have been forced to witness.

The cast themselves are excellent. As Wardaddy, Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances in recent memory. Gone is the swagger of Aldo Raine from Inglorious Basterds, instead we get a man who is trying to not only to complete the missions given to him by high command, but also keep his men alive whilst everywhere around him, people are dying so quickly, you barely get to know their names. Shia LaBeouf is also great as the deeply religious "Bible" Sean, a man who has turned to God as the only way he can cope with what is happening around him.

But for me the best was Logan Lerman as Norman. In what is without doubt the trickiest role in the film, he is a revelation. The fact that he conveyed the trauma & upset so well not only speaks to his skills as an actor, but also the fact that he, along with everyone else, was forced to spend 4 months prepping for the film, including actual physical fights between the actors and a week long boot camp run by Navy seals.

The other massive achievement in this movie is the fact that the production team managed to get the only genuine & working Tiger I tank in the world in the film, which hasn't been achieved for nearly 60 years. The sets, costumes & props are also exceptional. This film has been closely researched to ensure that the period setting is exactly as it was in 1945.

Whilst this is a difficult watch, it is also essential viewing. I loved it & it gives me even more respect & reverence to the millions who laid down their lives to ensure that we can live in peace & freedom.

I need to start this review by being totally honest: if this had been written before I had rewatched it in preparation for No Time To Die, it would have been a completely different review & much more negative. I first watched it when it was released in 2015 & really didn’t like it. My reaction at the time was “Can we please stop having movies influenced by Edward Snowden and actually get back to the original Bond formula, like laughs & ridiculously far-fetched scenarios?” I then rewatched it again when it was released on Blu-ray & broadly felt the same way. However, the intervening years have been kind to Spectre & it has aged much better than you would think. Whilst the structural problems are still there, hence the 3 star score, this is an enjoyable romp. 

There are a great many positives within the film, the main one being how it looks & is shot. I mean, it is a phenomenally good looking & beautiful film. The colour palette in particular, especially the opening scenes in Mexico & the snow scenes in Austria, is just breathtaking. Speaking of the opening scene, this is by far the best bit of the film: a stunningly made “one-shot” scene which starts from a crane shot, then down into the street, up into a hotel and then along rooftops. The helicopter stunt is also perfection. In one way amusingly, that is one of Spectre’s biggest problems: it starts so strong & impressively that once the credits have rolled, the film never gets anywhere close to those heights again. 

But sadly, this film does have many problems. The story is a total bloated mess, trying to tap into the world events at that time, but spreading itself so thin that it doesn’t manage to do any of it particularly well. There are also a couple of plot points that just don’t work, in any way. And you feel that, particularly with “The ring” element of the plot, the script writers have tried to lean into a “Bond”stereotype of the series, in that there are certain things that stretch credibility just that little bit, but still work because of the charm & love we all have for the character. But it just doesn’t work here. 

The characters are also, strangely, quite badly written considering the pedigree of talent involved. The best example of this is Monica Bellucci’s Lucia, the widow of one of the characters. Bellucci is, in her other work, an absolute powerhouse talent and unbelievably capable. She also previously came close to being cast in another Bond film. But Spectre completely & utterly wastes her, almost like the writers didn’t know what to do with her after shoehorning her in to what is effectively a cameo role. As quick as she appears & makes an impression, the film then cuts to another act. Similarly, Andrew Scott basically plays a slimy, untrustworthy spook who basically has two modes: devious or smarmy. Again, a powerhouse actor who, whilst he gets more screen time than Bellucci, is wasted. 

But there are some great characters as well, front & centre of this being Dave Bautista as Mr Hinx, the man-mountain henchman coming after Bond. Bautista clearly had a ball on Spectre & totally gets the tone. Similarly, Léa Seydoux as Madeline Swann is a good Bond girl & more than capable of defending herself. Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser is a mixed bag, sometimes working well but often again poorly written & uninspired. And finally Craig himself is again a mixed bag. You feel that he is really leaning into & comfortable with 007, but yet he also at times feels stilted & unconvincing. Craig has also said in not so many words that he wasn’t happy with Spectre & how the completed film was, which I can totally see. Whilst it made a ton of money, it was nowhere near the calibre of Skyfall. 

But having said all that, I still recommend it as a film, although with caveats. And it certainly is a country mile better than No Time To Die… 

Prisoners is sensational. It is a film which pushes your buttons & from the opening scenes grips you like a vice. It is also a film which in no way gives you easy answers to impossible questions & scenarios. Anybody who has a beating heart will find themselves running through their mind what they would do, even in the most horrific & awful moments. That it never descends into torture porn & clichéd revolting violence is testament to the perfect direction, script & performances.

Keller Dover lives in a tight-knit neighborhood with his wife & daughter. One day, his daughter & her best friend suddenly vanish after Thanksgiving dinner, with them last being seen playing on a dilapidated & old RV parked in the neighborhood. The driver is quickly traced & brought in for questioning by Detective Loki, but has to be released due to insufficient evidence. When confronting the driver (an extremely developmentally challenged man called Alex Jones,) Dover is goaded by Jones & becomes convinced that he know more than he is saying. Dover then kidnaps Jones along with the other girl's father Franklin Birch, then imprison & torture him for answers.

The thing that the film conveys more effectively than anything is the slow dread & fear which just keeps getting tighter & tighter. You feel at all times the desperation of the fathers, particularly Dover, who is a rough & ready blue collar worker who you can tell very early on has had an unbelievably difficult life & is just trying to support his family. Once this is threatened, you see clearly & unflinchingly what this attack against his family does to Dover.

Detective Loki is also someone who clearly comes across as a broken man, who is trying to in many ways piece his life back together & right the wrongs he has committed before. The tattoos on his neck as well as his personal outlook tell a thousand stories without a word of dialogue. But you also know he's a man of his word, so when he tells the parents that he is going to get their daughters back for them, you know he will break himself in half sooner than admit defeat. The many scenes he has with both the families & also with Dover on his own are masterclasses in dramatic tension & acting.

Not one actor/performance rings false. Not one person isn't perfect. Paul Dano is incredible with how he manages to, with very few lines, communicate so clearly his fear but also cunning. Terrance Howard is amazing as the other kidnapped girl's father, going in the opposite direction to Dover. He is broken but also determined not to become the monster that his emotions threaten to at every moment overcome him. And as Dover, Hugh Jackman gives what is to me his greatest ever performance. How he is able to become this broken husk of a man whose determination to find his child then becomes a white-hot cauldron of rage & violence is a testament to behold & watch. He also, with his acting, shows you as the viewer how, when the thing that you most love is taken away from you, you can be capable of the most heinous & dark actions.

Looks wise, the film is staggeringly shot, using mainly natural light to become almost another character, which is what great cinematography should always strive to be. Locations are amazing as well.

And marshalling all this is the incredible talent of Denis Villeneuve. What could have become a twisted, almost Chuck Norris style vigilante movie becomes a profound & extremely difficult musing on what you should and can do when you are in a situation where you can quite easily lose your humanity.

A difficult but absolutely must watch masterpiece.

When the first series of Little Britain was released, it was a genuinely subversive piece of genius. Satirising many of the elements of British life that we barely notice, it repackaged this as a mock tour guide, as if it was being shown to new arrivals to our country as an authentic way to connect with our various eccentrics. It was so influential that even today there are catchphrases & comments that people use which were created by Lucas & Walliams. It was also stratospherically successful, not only with viewing figures but also merchandising.

Unfortunately, and in yet another example of why Fawlty Towers got it spot on with only having 2 series, Little Britain rapidly went downhill as it went on/produced more content. The first series was genius, the second very good in parts but also hit & miss, the third series terrible. But then, as is the way with successful media products, the American market, in this case HBO, thought "We want a slice of that pie." So they backed a dumper-truck full of cash on Lucas & Walliams, commissioned them to create a USA version & waited for the success & money to roll in...

I can honestly say I have never sat through anything claiming to be a comedy that is this bad. This is an aggressively unfunny, barrel-scrapingly bad, moronic waste of time & talent. It actually is so terrible that you genuinely start to wonder if Little Britain was ever in any way funny, even though the answer is an emphatic yes when you look at the original series. Alongside this, the point was passed a long time ago when the humour around what was essentially one-joke characters with catchphrases stopped being funny. Now, it just is boring, turgid & stale.

But I am absolutely serious & honest about this: there was not one single laugh, in any way, of any kind. And what this series also does which makes things even worse is to double & treble down on the vulgarity element of the skits. Don't get me wrong, there was always off-colour & provocative humour in Little Britain, that's why the original series's were funny, because they took this risk. But the comedic material itself has to be funny to be able to work in conjunction with this provocativeness, otherwise it just comes across as desperate & a way to distract from the fact that it isn't funny, which then in turn draws more attention to the poor writing.

So you get some returning characters mixed in with new ones. But the well-known characters have had their various traits turned up to 11 & had other things added to them. One example is Carol "Computer Says No" Beer. The way it has been decided to refresh this character is for her to now repeatedly swear in the skits, which then draws attention to how far past its sellbuy date it is. With the new characters, the only thing they seem to have in common is how revolting & tasteless they can be, like the sweet innocent church-going schoolgirl who will randomly say toe-curlingly depraved sexual comments out of nowhere; or Phyllis Church who, on the "orders" of her dog, strips naked & stands in a rubbish bin on the street or does other demeaning & unfunny things...

Whilst Walliams & Lucas were at one time undoubtedly the best comedy writers/performers of their generation, this has now disintegrated into desperation to shock, thinking that this will bring the laughs rolling in. But it doesn't, it's just unfunny dreck. And more than that, it's actually quite boring.

I hope HBO asked for their money back.

When Guy Ritchie first cast Jason Statham in Lock Stock, he probably had no idea the fruitful partnership they would have, as well as the incredible career Statham would go on to enjoy. Now, 16 years after they worked together, they are back. The last film they made, Revolver, was an absolute car crash & received excoriating reviews. I myself could only get through about 25 minutes of it, it was that bad. Unfortunately, their new collaboration is equally as rubbish, albeit in a different way.

Wrath of Man is terrible, filled with characters you don't care about, given minimal backstory & thrust into the film. Statham plays a man called H, who joins a cash security transporting company and pretty quickly shows that he has unbelievable self-defence & weapon skills. The film then jumps back & forward in time, showing who H is & why he is where he is. But you just don't care, about any of it, at all. The motivations don't work, the story is ludicrous & you sit watching a bunch of characters you don't care about say terrible & bland dialogue to each other.

Then, for some inexplicable reason (although the movie is so terrible, it didn't really matter,) the film then goes completely left-field & spends most of the middle section with a totally different set of characters who have no introduction & again add nothing to the story. I was sat there just thinking "Why is this happening, why should I care about these people and how much longer until something interesting happens?"

But the biggest problem by a country mile is the tone & direction of the film, which is completely off. The reason that nothing works is because nothing rings true. You just watch basically a set of sequences, one after another, which are only tangentially connected by certain events which themselves don't click. Forget the old Guy Ritchie films like Snatch; this film has no humour, pacing or likeable people to root for.

When the final act arrives, I was just simply waiting for the film to end. You would think with the build-up to the big shootout, there would be something enjoyable, but it was just lots of shooting & deaths of characters I didn't care about. I had long given up expecting anything interesting. There was no payoff, no big reveal. It just ended & I wondered how this film got greenlit or who enjoyed watching it. A total & complete misfire.

When Gravity was released, it was a 5-star reviewed film across the board. Whether it was acting, story or visuals, the praise couldn't come fast or thick enough. My main interest for going to see it though was because of Alfonso Cuarón, whose film Y tu mamá también was an excellent & intimate road movie featuring incredible performances from its cast. So I thought that firstly giving a talented director a massive budget to play with, then the reviews being uniformly great, meant this was a winning combination. How wrong I was.

I fully accept in many many films, there are a number of clichés & story plot lines which are always there. However, the brilliance of the best films is to take these elements & make it so that they don't annoy you and to craft the story around them in an engrossing way. But in Gravity, these clichés are like open sores, dragging the film down and very quickly becoming so grating that the whole film is ruined.

Gravity is the story of Ryan Stone, who is on her first space walk (cliché) and is the most promising recruit they've had in years (another one.) She is joining up with Matt Kowalski who is, yes you've guessed it, on his final mission before retiring. Then suddenly they receive an emergency communication from Houston: those pesky Russians have shot down one of their own satellites but the debris has exploded through space and now everyone is in mortal danger. Then suddenly, these pieces of satellite fly through where Stone and Kowalski are, setting off a chain of events where they have to fight for their lives.

This "action sequence," consisting of the two of them being thrown around space & crashing into various satellites and rockets, just goes on and on and on and on. After about 20 minutes, you have gone from initially gripped, to blasé, to bored and finally arrive at annoyed. It is like watching two Teletubbies bouncing off each other in a padded room. And the more the film strains to make you care, the less you do. Clooney does his standard Clooney act, which whilst it works well in many other films, here is just banal. And Bullock, whilst she resists the temptation to shriek and scream, is just annoying. As much as she is the protagonist, I wasn't for one second interested in hers or the other's plight. And this is a film which you'd expect Bullock to carry with ease.

But it cannot be overstated just how stupid this film is. My best friend watching this with me, when we got to a cliffhanger scene which the film had spent the past hour building up to, just groaned when it happened and said "That just wouldn't happen..."

However, the moment when I finally lost patience with this film was a scene where Stone gets into a Russian space craft. Now, as much as I am not an astronaut, I would be willing to bet a very large amount of money that Russian & American shuttles are not identical in terms of their cockpits or controls/positions of their controls. Yet Stone gets inside, straps herself in, looks at the panel which is full of buttons labelled in Russian and without skipping a beat, starts up the shuttle & flies it with no issues. And at that moment, for me my viewing was over. I did leave the film on until the end, but didn't watch it as such, just waited for it to be over.

I absolutely appreciate & respect the level of technical wizardry, CGI & world building in this film, but unless there is a good movie to tie it to, it amounts to nothing. Gravity is a very expensive, flashy, dire & boring mess. And it's 2 hours of my life I'm not going to get back. Please don't waste yours.

This film has huge personal significance for me. I also have, although nowhere near as bad, a stammer/stutter. As much as it caused me enormous frustration when I was younger, I have through a combination of hard work & practice managed to make it barely noticeable. But to have a debilitating speech impediment and also to have to become King is a challenge that I can only slightly understand. One of the biggest things I also love about this film is that it in no way shows or pretends there is a simple cure for a stammer. It is a far more nuanced situation which the film shows brilliantly.

The story follows Bertie, later crowned King George who, following the abdication of his brother, is promoted to the throne. But George's terrible stammer is a complete obstacle, making even saying a single sentence almost impossible. After trying multiple therapies, George is put in touch with Lionel Logue, a completely unconventional Australian speech coach. From there, George is slowly able to manage his stammer, working closely with Logue as well as forming a close friendship.

Colin Firth is brilliant in this role and fully deserved his Oscar win. He makes George an emphatically relatable person, stripping back the pomp to show a man who desperately wants to serve his country but is stopped by something he has almost no control over. It is wonderful & also highly emotional to see his confidence grow as he manages his stutter. And Geoffrey Rush as Logue is the perfect performance partner: acerbic, witty, brilliant & above all deeply caring to George. The other brilliant role is played by Helena Bonham Carter. In so many films she plays extremely unconventional roles, but she displays her beautiful dramatic range & emotions as the loyal Queen who stands strong and supports her husband through his various trials with dedication & love.

Direction wise, the film is taut, well paced and perfectly written by David Seidler. There are some unintentionally funny moments, including when George is made to swear repeatedly, and amusingly is now a popular remix on the internet.

Although for some it may be very slow going or not relevant, for me it is an intensely personal account of the overcoming of difficulty at a time when his country and people needed him most.

A brilliant film.

The first in the Has Fallen franchise, this came in the same year as White House Down, although they are in many ways very different films. The main one being that whilst White House Down was a 12A rated family friendly action film, this is a no-holds barred at times extremely violent 15 rated adult film. But it is also extremely enjoyable & a proper old-style action thriller.

The story is fairly standard fare: Gerard Butler plays Mike Banning, an ex-special forces soldier who is on the President's security team. After a tragedy at work, he steps back & works for a different department, but still "conveniently" has kept up all his skills whilst sat behind a desk. Then, when the government of South Korea arrives on a state visit, the North Koreans stage a coup to try & capture them. And there is only one person who can stop them...

As much as it is schlocky, these are the types of films that Butler does extremely well. He is an absolute unit in this film, built like you wouldn't believe, but also with a vulnerability that is quite an interesting facet of the character. Exactly what you'd expect to happen happens, but this film wears it's clichés with pride. There are action scenes, crossing and double-crossing and the stand-off at the end.

One point about this film which normally would be a negative for me, but which the film leads into in such a charming way it actually benefits it is the at times staggeringly bad effects and CGI. Parts of this film you'd shocked were greenlit to be put in, when looking at it. But this is very much in the spirit of the film & the adventure.

Butler and the others do solid if uninspiring work, however by the end of the film, if you allow yourself to buy into the spirit of it, you'll have a stupid grin plastered across your face. The sequels are a mixed bag, however much of the same spirit remains.

A great Friday night film which you can enjoy if you don't think too closely about it.

This film is both interesting and frustrating. It really leans into its sci-fi premise with flair and also visual flourishes, however it also has a relatively poor script & uninteresting characters. The abilities of Lucy herself are also so stupid that the film becomes quite stupid, mainly because the film insists on maintaining the fact that this is set in the real world, as well as being far too long.

And yet, in a weird way it was enjoyable. This film, despite its liberties, does keep you gripped. Johansson plays the titular Lucy, who is kidnapped & surgically implanted with a highly complex & dangerous new synthetic drug. The packages leak & Lucy then gets superhuman and highly advanced powers, enabling her to fight back against the drug runners trying to kill her.

I won't go too much into the plot, suffice to say that there are many far-fetched and ridiculous events that happen. Some of them work well, like the incredible car chase through Paris which is bread and butter Besson, whilst a lot of the other stuff, particularly the superhuman abilities and their use, just don't work.

However, I absolutely admit that it kept me entertained for a good chunk of it, plus there were some ideas which did make me think. One surprise for me though was how much this film was embraced by people all over the world. The film was stratospherically successful at the box office, making over 11 times its budget, which I welcome because with all the rubbish being pumped out by studios, it is wonderful to see a new film concept genuinely taking chances and trying new ideas. Even if they don't all work, at least there is an effort to break the mould.

In Christian Bale's words, after completing production on Batman Begins, he was completely burnt-out, so wanted to do something small-scale... He then signed up to play a returning veteran with PTSD, who goes back onto the streets & gets mixed up with the gangs and violence he left behind all those years ago. It is an environment David Ayer (the writer/director) knew well: the entire film is a semi-autobiographical story, as well as featuring many composite characters based on people he knew & grew up with.

Bale plays Jim, who returns from combat haunted by horrific & disturbing visions as a result of the significant trauma he endures whilst serving in the US military. He links back up with his best childhood friend Mike and they resume their favourite pastime of hanging out on the streets, getting drunk & high, whilst also becoming involved with petty crime. As much as Jim wants to get his life together & bring his Mexican girlfriend over the border to live with him, his significant mental health issues plague him constantly.

I don't want to say too much more about the story, as it is a film where the less you know, the more you get out of it. But it is absolutely incredible. Bale is magnetic, although for me I also feel that his absolute authenticity at being able to show extreme mental anguish may in part have been because of the terrible experiences & difficulties he had as a young man dealing with the fallout of the success of Empire of the Sun. Also, much credit must be given to Freddy Rodriguez as Mike. Starring opposite a powerhouse like Bale would be daunting for any actor, but he really comes into his own and gives a completely authentic & natural performance as the good man who is led astray by his friend.

Impressively as well, despite the micro-budget (it has been reported that there was so little money that no catering was provided,) is that nothing feels short-changed or fake. The crew shot on the actual streets and used real people who lived there to add layers of authenticity to the film. There is also unbelievably tight editing & pacing, adding to the frenetic pace. The only thing that stops this getting 5 stars is that for me there were a couple of scenes within the narrative that just didn't fit within the story. I also felt that, at close to 2 hours, the film could have used some slight trimming down, especially with some of the middle act scenes.

But these are minor gripes. I still absolutely loved and was gripped by this film. I always have huge reverence for these tiny films which have to fight tooth and nail to get made & distributed, plus will often star actors who take a big risk by signing on to these small films with no guarantee of success. And massive credit needs to be given to Bale to lending his star power & credibility to this story. Another reminder again why he is such a magnificent & wonderful actor.

In 2020, Christopher Nolan released Tenet. It was the culmination of many years of slowly pushing towards the point where he basically went up his own backside with pretension, wrapped up in a film so convoluted & cold that it made me question some of the reasons I liked Nolan's work in the first place. As much as there is an unrelenting coldness in pretty much everything he does, this has before been offset by his excellent work. So I did go into Oppenheimer wanting it to be great but also keeping my optimism to a minimum so as I wasn't set up for another failure. I am delighted, as per my star rating, to say that Nolan is back to his amazing best with what is his best film since Interstellar, although in some ways it's even better than that, because this film really nails the ending.

Oppenheimer chronicles the creation of the atomic bomb, overseen by Oppenheimer along with the contributions of many others in the scientific community. It is the height of WWII and there is increasing desparation from the West and the US to ensure that the technology does not fall into the hands of their enemies. The film also looks closely at Oppenheimer's personal life, including his Communist sympathies & his affair with one of the principal members of the Communist party, Jean Tatlock. Mixed in with this is the sham trial that the film repeatedly cuts back to, trying to discredit Oppenheimer when he realises the horror & evil that the creation he helped to birth can do.

The most important thing this movie does is make you feel, through the incredible crafting of cinematography, sound & performances, how tense & pressured the whole team working on the Manhattan Project was. There is the constant pressure from the official chain of communication, primarily led by Matt Damon's Leslie Groves, to bring forward the time when the bomb will be ready. This firehose is then turned on Oppenheimer as he changes from a man of science, committed to completing the project he was given, to one of the most outspoken proponents of controlling these weapons, as he could see what was going to happen once the arms race started.

The cinematography is stunning. I saw this in 70mm IMAX & there is simply no way I can communicate effectively how all-encompassing it was to be a part of this movie. The sound design is some of the most incredible I've ever experienced, and this film features the most use of IMAX in a Nolan film so far. Frustratingly, due to the noise IMAX cameras make, dialogue scenes have to be shot on conventional film cameras. But also, every time I see a Nolan film, I appreciate why he is such a fanatical defender of & proponent of film stock: the quality, colour palette & depth of field is unmatched.

And finally we get to the performances. In his first lead for Nolan after multiple supporting roles, Cillian Murphy is magnificent. His Oppenheimer is in many ways an almost childlike character, full of nerves & insecurities, but always driven by what he emphatically believes. Florence Pugh also does excellent work with what is effectively a small supporting role. But in all the roles, the one that stood out more than most was Josh Hartnett. He is really really good. After multiple rom-coms, followed by a long hiatus, he is outstanding as Oppenheimer's colleague Ernest Lawrence. Even though I won't spoil it, there are many amazing cameos as well.

This film is sensational. I loved it and it is also an important warning to civilisation now, right now. Especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we need to as a species start to seriously see the risks we are taking not only with our lives but the whole of humanity & the planet. Sadly, like Oppenheimer muses late on in the film, this isn't one we probably will take...

In 2016, the world changed forever. Donald Trump, a man who had led one of the most excoriating & divisive political campaigns in US political history, won the US election by a narrow margin. Millions were horrified at how anyone could vote for this man. And also anyone who did vote for him was, in those people's eyes, tainted forever, irredeemable & beyond contempt. But, as has been incessantly pointed out by people including Michael Moore & Bill Maher, the half of the country who did vote for him are not self-deporting. Everyone has to live together and the time of agreeing to disagree needs to make a comeback. Sitting in your own echo chamber does absolutely nothing apart from deepen these divides.

And this is the brilliance to me of Moore's new documentary Fahrenheit 11/9. Rather than adopt the approach of every single other media outlet/commentator, Moore has gone in completely the opposite & also correct direction: finding out WHY so many who voted for Obama had reached a point where they could no longer tolerate the way things were going. It also has to be said that Moore was one of the ONLY people in the media who saw the momentum of the Trump campaign, coupled with understanding why people were as angry as they were. To them in his words, "Trump was a Molotov cocktail thrown into the US political system."

This documentary makes for uncomfortable viewing, mainly because it also pulls no punches looking at the behaviour of the Democrats, especially in Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan. The treatment of them with the contaminated water scandal, alongside the unannounced military war-gaming drills, just pushed the decent people living there over the edge. Moore speaks to many people of different political stripes, making this a truly inclusive & wide ranging documentary. I loved this element of it, because the USA needs to listen to the people who are most affected by how the country is governed. And the simple truth is that if the vast majority of them feel they aren't being listened to, they will keep voting for the most extreme candidates they can, in order to make their voice heard, irrelevant of who it is.

A brilliant and absolutely thought-provoking documentary

Thank God for Gurinder Chadha. I first encountered her work with the brilliant Bend it like Beckham, looking at what happens when a passionate & determined young woman who loves football goes against her family wishes and actually does what she wants to do, living her life. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging was another great film, taking a coming of age story and adding new dimensions to it. And now we have Blinded by the Light, which takes everything Chadha gave us in her previous films and crafts it into a work of genius.

To be honest, this film wasn't even on my radar. Then a good friend of mine who had seen it told me about it and literally could not stop praising or raving about it, saying I absolutely had to see it. Within 5 minutes of putting it on, I had a massive smile on my face and now, whenever I talk about it, I say exactly the same things.

I love this film. It takes one of the most difficult & challenging things to show (racism) and creates a film that not for one second minimises it's impact, but also shows the huge hope & promise within the communities. And in the film's best stroke, it sets all this to the wonderful & brilliant music of Bruce Springsteen.

Javed is a young British Pakistani living in Luton during the Thatcher years. Racism is everywhere & Javed is constantly threatened & chased, simply for his colour. Family life isn't that much better, with Javed's father being an extremely difficult & controlling man who rules his family with an iron-fist. When Javed starts at college, he becomes friends with the only other black student, Roops, who is also a massive fan of Bruce Springsteen. Once Javed hears his music, he will never be the same again.

The music fits perfectly with the difficulties and horrors of Javed's life, but it also is an unbelievably hopeful film. Despite the difficulties he and his family faces, the music helps him through, which is the impact it had on Sarfraz Manzoor, on whose life the film is based. From brilliant montages showing his initial emotions when he first hears "The Boss" to a horrific scene of racist violence, the music is integral to every part of it.

I couldn't help but be moved by what I saw and how it was acted and directed. This film is a masterpiece and I loved it. It left me feeling not only uplifted but also shocked by the difficulties which everyone within that community faced, but crucially this was never done in a lecturing or condescending way.

Gurinder Chadha, you are incredible and we are so lucky to have you as a filmmaker. Thank you for making this works of perfection.

Blade Runner has become the stuff of such legend that it was surprising that I had never seen it until recently, despite my love of Ridley Scott and his work.

Harrison Ford plays a man called Rick Deckard, a human and Blade Runner, who is in charge of patrolling Los Angeles, looking for replicants and terminating them. He then is informed of 4 such beings who he needs to hunt down and "retire" from this world.

The film itself, whilst it is an engrossing & visually incredible film, is also extremely monotonous at times. It is a very cold film, which I absolutely appreciate is the point. But at times it does make the narrative and the watching quite impenetrable.

Harrison Ford is great as Deckard, plus Daryl Hannah also makes a strong impression, alongside Rutgar Hauer.

I do have to mention that I am not a massive sci-fi fan, so in many ways a lot of the content will be lost on me. But there was certainly a lot to enjoy and I also appreciate the huge influence it had on many other films following it.